


shall we reconvene?

by quantum27



Series: a cup of good intentions (tron one shots) [10]
Category: Tron - All Media Types, Tron: Evolution, Tron: Uprising
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nonbinary Character, Reunions, Selectively Mute Anon (Tron), Short One Shot, anon was rezzed in way before the coup i'm sorry i don't make the rules, feat. beck awkwardly trying not to intrude, i have a Lot of Thoughts in the notes, is beck is tron's son, maybe? - Freeform, then anon is tron's nibling, tron fandom really gotta make up our own tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:00:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26825527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quantum27/pseuds/quantum27
Summary: The program nodded decidedly before gesturing above their head...About Tron’s height. Oh. This just got awkward.“I’m not tall enough to be Tron?”(or, an old friend stops by in Argon, looking for Tron.)
Series: a cup of good intentions (tron one shots) [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1872664
Comments: 17
Kudos: 25





	shall we reconvene?

**Author's Note:**

> i imagine programs just are able to Know other program's genders once they get like...close enough, because they're cool like that.

Beck knew he was being followed. He’d been followed for the last centicycle at the very least. He had just finished some recon when he noticed whoever they were. And he’d only barely gotten a chance to see them in the reflection of a building. Ever since he’d been trying to shake them off his tail to no avail. In fact if it weren’t for the fact his new ‘friend’s’ circuit lights were different from Tron’s stealth suit he might’ve just assumed they were Tron. At least their circuits were a solid blue and not red. 

Finally, he decided to try a different strategy (running through the streets pretending he was still doing recon could only go on for so long,) He stopped in his tracks on top of the building he was currently on and crossed his arms. It was barely a nano before the masked program just seemed to _appear_ out of nowhere on the roof, docking their disk. There was something very distinct about the mask, the way the blue light lines framed the void of a face. 

Beck frowned at the program even if he knew they couldn’t see past his helmet, “Why are you following me?” 

The program cocked their head to the side before pointing at Beck’s chest; at the symbol. Of course.

“You wanted to talk to me, then?” 

The program shook their head ‘no’ and then paused and shook their head ‘yes’, and then paused again before half-shrugging. They pointed again to the symbol and made an ‘x’ with their arms. 

“I’m not Tron?” Beck said after a moment of staring at the ‘x’, unable to keep amusement out of his voice.

The program nodded decidedly before gesturing above their head...About Tron’s height. Oh. This just got awkward.

“I’m not tall enough to be Tron?” 

The program nodded enthusiastically, putting their hands on their hips. 

Beck was then struck with a revelation. This program _knew_ Tron’s height. Now Beck wasn’t short, far from it, but he was still shorter than Tron. Most programs were. It’d always been a problem he’d never really properly acknowledge, but if any program who had known Tron did see him- Well. And that meant. This program had interacted with Tron before...well...before _everything._

Beck stepped forward towards the program. An insane idea had popped into his head. This...This was a risk. And yet…

He kept his voice low and head bowed as he said, “Alright. You’ve got me, I’m not Tron. What do you want?” Regret filled him as soon as he said it. He’d broken one of the most important rules! To a stranger no less. 

The program’s head turned silently before once more pointing at the symbol. 

“You want me to take you to Tron?” The regret really wasn’t going away. He put on his best Renegade-voice “And why should I trust you? You haven’t even said a word to me this entire time-” He stopped, while not being able to see the mystery program’s face, Beck got a strong feeling they’d just rolled their eyes. Then they sighed, shouldering rolling from their stiff position and then tapped the upper part of their left shoulder. Circuits lit up brightly and Beck squinted. 

A band of circuits with a symbol, a symbol that was- “You fought in the ISO war.” Just like Cutler.

The program nodded, before tapping the spot again and deactivating the light lines. Beck stared at the spot. He needed to talk to Tron about this. It seemed like the only logical course of action. 

“Look why don’t I get back to you on this,” He moved past the conscript, “I’ll talk to _him_ and see-” It happened in only a nano, but Beck found himself staring at the sky. They’d taken him down. And was it his imagination, or was that a move Tron had used before? A move Tron had taught him? 

Above him, he swore he heard a chuckle from them, “Yeah, haha. Very Funny.” 

The program offered him a hand, which he took somewhat reluctantly. 

As he got to his feet he asked, “Where did you learn that move?” 

They tapped his chest. Well then. Tron had taught this mysterious veteran of the ISO war. It seemed plausible at this point to assume they were a system monitor. Beck had been under the impression that they were all repurposed or dead. He shot them a steady look, bringing his mask’s darkness up so they could see his face. 

“Alright. I’ll take you to him. But if you try anything I’m kicking your ass.” He was slightly delighted with himself for using the User curse. 

The program’s circuits brightened- an odd semi-shift from blue to white- as they gave him a thumbs up. 

* * *

Beck ran a hand through his hair, readjusting the faux hawk as they walked through the hideout. He glanced to the odd conscript, who had neglected to take their mask off yet. When he got to the door of the observation room he turned to them. 

“I’d say let me do the talking, but you seem pretty comfortable with doing that already.” 

The program seemed at least a little bit amused at his small joke, as their circuits flared with silent laughter. 

The door slid open, and Beck walked in, the program a few paces behind him. And there was Tron at the interface. Beck walked up to just a few meters away from him and didn’t say anything. 

“Beck.” Tron greeted with a tone that had a clear warning in it underneath the casual greeting, “You’ve brought...a ‘friend’.” There was definitely some carefully held-back frustration in there. 

“Yeah.” 

Tron turned away from the interface, a scowl on his face sliding from Beck to the program. And then he paused. Confusion and...shock entered his eyes, “Beck.” He said slowly, “Who is this?”

“They didn’t really say.” Beck glanced between the two programs, “They didn’t say anything at all, actually.”

Tron took a deep breath and then slowly walked towards the mystery program, head turned to the side as he kept looking at them. 

“ _Anon_?” He asked quietly. 

The mystery program hesitated and then nodded, not quite knowing what to do with their hands. Then their helmet deactivated, fluffy brown hair with a shock of green falling around their face. Beck blinked at the face the program had, it was familiar somehow-he once again found his eyes flickering between the programs- and found there was something about the face that reminded him strongly of Tron. 

“Tron.” They greeted with a small smile. They walked forward to him, ready to clasp him in a hug, but Tron stopped them before that, ending with them clasping each other’s forearms. 

“You’re alive,” Tron’s voice was disbelieving, and Beck felt a pang of sadness run through him at the sound of it, “I’d heard you died in the ISO war.” 

Anon raised an eyebrow and gestured at Tron. 

Tron scoffed, chagrinned, “Point taken.” 

“So...you two do know each other and I didn’t make a big mistake by bringing them here?” 

The two programs turned to Beck, they’d forgotten about the mechanic in their reunion. 

“It was still a risky move.” Tron scolded. 

Anon’s eyes widened and they glanced to the floor. Tron looked back to them, squinting. 

“That is, of course, if _someone_ didn’t bully you into taking you here.” 

Anon shrugged unashamed. Caught, red-handed. Tron shook his head in that fond way of his that meant that although he disapproved he thought it was funny. 

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Beck said, feeling rude, “But, uh, could I get a bit of a hint of what’s going on?” 

Tron sighed, “Ah. Yes. Anon, this is Beck,” He gestured to him, taking a step back from them, “He’s my...protege. And Beck, this is Anonymous- though they prefer Anon. They’re a sysmonitor...better known as _‘The Defender of the ISOs’_ , if I recall correctly.” 

Anon gave a small wave. Beck waved back.

“You’ll forgive them if they don’t talk much- it’s never been something they’ve ever been, enthusiastic about.” 

Anon snorted, and spread their arms in a ‘what can you do’ way. 

“Nice to meet you.” 

Tron’s face then grew serious, turning back to Anon. 

“Anon, although talking is not in your forte…” Tron trailed off, emotions flitting over his face only barely. Beck could barely imagine the scope of questions his mentor had to have.

“Flynn.” Anon said simply as if the name explained everything. And by the way Tron’s face relaxed, perhaps it did. 

“He saved you?” A nod, “You’ve been with him?” Another nod, “Does he know you’re here?” 

Anon bit their lip and ran a hand through their hair. 

Tron frowned, “Does he know you’re here with _me?_ ” 

Anon seemed to consider their words carefully, tapping their thumb against their right cheek, “He...thinks I’m here...with...the _Renegade_.” 

“I mean, it’s technically true.” Beck said, trying to dispel the darkness that was gathering behind Tron’s eyes. 

“So he doesn't think that the Renegade is me?” 

Anon’s circuits dimmed, “He...We thought you were. Dead.” 

Tron’s frown only deepened. “Any particular reason that he didn’t believe it was me?” 

A shadow of a smirk crossed their face, “The height. Of course. He was adamant about your shoulders as well.” Anon eyed Beck’s shoulders, “Despite how we told him he couldn’t...know...because it was only. Pics. And Vids.” Then their circuits got even dimmer, and they only whispered the next words, “Saw you...getting... _attacked_.” 

Tron closed his eyes and took in several deep breaths. Beck found himself conflicted at which emotional system monitor to look at. What exactly was he supposed to do in this situation? Comfort them? He barely knew how to do anything like that with Tron. And Anon he’d literally just met this microcycle. 

“Well, the good news is that neither of you are dead.” He hesitated, “Though, Tron is very injured.” 

The aforementioned program sighed loudly, throwing a strong look at the mechanic. 

Anon mouthed the word ‘injured’, a hand reaching up to their chest. Tron nodded. 

“Could Flynn fix him?” Beck asked cautiously. 

“Of course he could.” Tron answered for them, “But I’ve never been able to find any trace of him, and I can’t afford to make a trip out of Argon without knowing where the hell I’m going.” 

“We’re hidden well. We have to be. Have to take care of the ISOs left.” 

Tron and Beck both looked to them fast enough to get whiplash.

“There are ISOs left?” Beck had never even met an ISO before, not even before The Purge. Argon was tucked away in one of the furthest corners of the Grid, not many ISOs had seemed to gravitate towards it. They’d never even gotten the chance. And he was such a _young_ program as well...

Anon nodded firmly, circuits flaring from blue to white, “Small Pockets of them.” 

“I…” Tron shook his head, a soft smile on his face, “That’s good news to hear.” 

“That just makes you wonder how much do we know that is just propaganda?” Beck wondered aloud, “I mean. You’re alive. Flynn’s alive. Anon’s alive. Some ISOs are alive...how are we supposed to even begin to know…?” 

Anon waved it off. Another matter for another time, then. They tucked their hair behind their ear, the flash of green framing their face. 

“You changed your hair, again.” Tron noted, and then to Beck, “It was blue before, like their helmet.” 

“A reminder.” They paused, “It seems I’m awfully fond of those.” They activated the same armband that they’d shown Beck earlier, and then tapped their right cheekbone. A wave of pixels washed over it, a light wash of blue. 

Tron hummed, “I thought Flynn told you to get that patched properly by a medic.”

“Hm. It’s only visual, now.” The unspoken ‘Unlike your’s’ was evident to all the programs. There was an odd silence then. 

“As much as this small talk has been interesting,” Beck smiled, “Perhaps we should make some plans.” 

There were so many opportunities available now. With the knowledge of where Flynn was, Tron could finally be healed. And Anon could be a welcome addition to the Uprising. 

“Yes. Plans.” Tron gently put his hand on his fellow system monitor’s shoulder. Anon grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> i've been watching on and off tron evolution gameplay and stuff and I have. Thoughts and Feelings. so uhhhh. Yeah. Anon deserved better- and i've been accumulating a bunch of headcanons. (i've also been...pondering doing an evolution rewrite...maybe adjust some of the story so it fits in a little more neatly along with legacy/betrayal/uprising while keeping the story beats...but idk, we'll see.) I also mentioned in the tags, but I imagine Anon being in the Grid way longer than he is in game. (imagine me taking evolution and stretching it-) Probably rezzed in not long after the ISOs appeared. Also since Uprising refers to an 'iso war' it would just more sense than it happening like in one day than it does in Evolution but anyway I just- 0_0
> 
> uhhhh misc headcanons. let's go-! 
> 
> Anon doesn't particularly look exactly like Flynn because he's got some of Tron's base programming floating around in there. Nonbinary!Anon because, i mean, faceless game protagonist- :D,,,, The bit with the hair being blue/green around the face is mostly just a thing I was doing that seems to make sense already with their character design because they do have circuits on the helmet. 
> 
> Writing Anon's dialogue...I hope it came off that the longer that Anon got used to talking the more they said? Obviously knowing Tron, Anon is comfortable, but they don't know Beck, so obviously they're not as comfy. So the longer they're there talking it gets easier? I hope. 
> 
> those are my thoughts. i have many more but they are hard to put down at the moment.


End file.
